This invention relates to electromagnetically actuated electrical relays and more particularly to such relays having spring mounted contacts sealed in an enclosing envelope.
Sealed contact relays are well-known in the electrical arts and have long-found extensive application in electrical systems for performing a wide range of switching functions. These relays typically take the form of a pair of reed springs of a magnetically responsive and electrically conductive material suspended at their ends by the envelope, of a non-conductive material, usually, glass, in which they are sealed. At their other ends the springs overlap and are spaced apart to present a contact gap. A winding encircling the envelope is energizable to generate a magnetic field for urging the overlapping ends of the reed springs each toward the other to make electrical contact and thereby to control the electrical circuit in which the relay is connected. Although sealed reed relays having more than two spring pairs for controlling multiple electrical circuits are known, the relay form most generally available and in widest use incorporates only one spring pair to control the electrical continuity of a single conducting path. Thus, where two or more circuits are to be simultaneously controlled, such as the tip and ring circuits of a telephone subscriber line, for example, separate relays are generally provided to control the individual circuits. Problems attending the fabrication of most known multiconducting path relays, such as contact gap control and the like, have heretofore occasioned the provision of individual relays for multiple circuit control as the most economically feasible.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and novel sealed reed spring relay for simultaneously controlling a plurality of conducting paths.
Another object of this invention is a new and novel reed spring relay construction which lends itself to simplified fabrication techniques, offers versatility of operation, and achieves plural conducting paths without adding substantially to its power requirements.